Android and iOS devices already are major productivity killers, but that didn’t stop Nintendo from filing a patent for a smartphone Game Boy emulator.
Smartphones evolve with each passing day, and games that match their capabilities are launched on a regular basis. Despite all that, some of us enjoy going back to the classic titles from 20 or 25 years ago. When people are struck by gaming nostalgia, nothing can stop them from playing their Game Boy favorites on their handheld console. Things can only get better when running such games on a modern-day smartphone, in order to take advantage of all the processing power that’s hidden under the case. An official Nintendo emulator for Game Boy titles may be on its way to our smartphones, or at least that’s what a recent patent application of the Japanese company suggests.
SNES, NES and Game Boy classics have already found a new home on the Wii, Wii U and 3DS, so emulation isn’t a new thing for Nintendo. However, this piece of intellectual property would increase the number of devices capable of running Game Boy apps, and smartphones will surely be among them. A lot of people have been pushing the Japanese behemoth to create emulators for smartphones, especially since its hardware sales are not going that well, with Sony’s PS4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One taking the first spots. Spin-off games from the Pokémon series have made an appearence on iPhone and iPad, but full ports are still a long way.
There’s a good reason why emulators on iOS generally get shut down right after the Apple review team becomes aware of their existence, but it should be noted that none of these is made by Nintendo. An official emulator would probably change how things work, but even this patent application doesn’t guarantee that. Nintendo has been securing patents for similar purposes in the past, so this might be nothing more than a strategy to make sure that no one else is thinking of emulating classic games on smartphones. It remains to be seen whether Game Boy titles will make an appearance on our mobile devices any time soon. How would you fancy to play Super Mario Land, Tetris or Tennis on a Samsung Note 4?
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